Canned answers in messages

ABSTRACT

At an electronic device with a touch-sensitive display, display a message transcript, where the message transcript includes at least one message from at least a first user. Determine, based at least in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or more characters. Display, on the touch-sensitive display, the plurality of suggested one or more characters. Detect an input on the touch-sensitive display. Determine whether the input represents user selection of one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters. Display the selected one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters in the message transcript. Send the selected one or more characters to the first user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/875,836, “Canned Answers in Messages,” filed May 15, 2020, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/719,163, “CannedAnswers in Messages,” filed May 21, 2015, which claims the benefit ofpriority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/005,958,“Canned Answers in Messages,” filed May 30, 2014 and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/129,790, “Canned Answers in Messages,”filed Mar. 7, 2015.

This application relates to the following provisional applications: U.S.Patent Application Ser. No. 62/005,837, “Device, Method, and GraphicalUser Interface for a Predictive Keyboard,” filed May 30, 2014; U.S.Patent Application Ser. No. 62/046,876, “Device, Method, and GraphicalUser Interface for a Predictive Keyboard,” filed Sep. 5, 2014; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/502,711, “Device, Method, and GraphicalUser Interface for a Predictive Keyboard,” filed Sep. 30, 2014; U.S.Patent Application Ser. No. 62/005,825, “Entropy-Guided Text PredictionUsing Combined Word and Character N-gram Language Models,” filed May 30,2014; U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/006,010, “Predictive TextInput,” filed May 30, 2014; and U.S. Patent Application Ser. No.62/005,942, “Text Prediction Using Combined Word N-gram and UnigramLanguage Models,” filed May 30, 2014. The content of these applicationsare hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to messaging, and morespecifically to techniques for suggesting predictive answers that a usercan select to respond to an incoming message.

BACKGROUND

Portable electronic devices, particularly cellular phones, are populardevices for message-based communications. Exemplary message-basedcommunications include the short message service (SMS) and iMessagetechnologies provided by Apple Inc., of Cupertino, California. The smallform factors of portable electronic devices, however, present userinterface challenges. One persistent challenge arises from thereduced-size keyboards typically employed by these devices, which aresub-optimal for typing. This difficulty is exacerbated by continuedimprovement in electronics packaging techniques that lend to smallerdevices with even less room for keyboard placement. Techniques forpredicting a user's likely response to an incoming message—therebyreducing the need for manual user input—are thus desirable.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a method for responding to messages comprises: atan electronic device with a touch-sensitive display: displaying amessage transcript, the message transcript including at least onemessage from at least a first user; determining, based at least in-parton the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; displaying, on the touch-sensitive display, the plurality ofsuggested one or more characters; detecting an input on thetouch-sensitive display; determining whether the input represents userselection of one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters;and in accordance with a determination that the input represents userselection of one of the plurality of suggested one or more characters,displaying the selected one of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters in the message transcript.

In some embodiments, a method for responding to messages comprises: atan electronic device with a touch-sensitive display: at an electronicdevice with a touch-sensitive display: displaying, in a first region ofthe display, a message transcript, the message transcript including atleast one message from at least a first user; displaying, in a secondregion of the display, a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboardincluding a number of character keys; and displaying, in a third regionof the display, a plurality of suggested one or more characters, theplurality of suggested characters determined based, at least in-part, ona content of the at least one message received from the first user.

In some embodiments, a method for responding to messages comprises: atan electronic device with a touch-sensitive display: displaying amessage transcript, the message transcript including at least onemessage from at least a first user; determining, based at least in-parton the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; and displaying a first suggested one or more characters ofthe plurality of suggested one or more characters in a first region onthe touch-sensitive display, wherein the first region is a contiguousregion visually distinguished from the background of the messagetranscript.

In some embodiments, a method for responding to messages comprises: atan electronic device with a touch-sensitive display: displaying amessage transcript, the message transcript including at least onemessage from at least a first user; determining, based at least in-parton the at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; and displaying a first affordance representing a firstsuggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one ormore characters at the bottom of the message transcript.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction devicewith a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screenin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5J illustrate exemplary user interfaces for responding tomessages using predictive answers.

FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate exemplary types of predictive answers.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for transitioningbetween electronic devices.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for transitioningbetween electronic devices.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for transitioningbetween electronic devices.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for transitioningbetween electronic devices.

FIGS. 11-15 are functional block diagram of electronic devices inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the disclosure and embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which it is shown byway of illustration specific embodiments that can be practiced. It is tobe understood that other embodiments and examples can be practiced andchanges can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

Below, FIGS. 1A-1B, 2, and 3 provide a description of exemplary devicesfor performing the techniques described herein. For brevity, thesetechniques may be referred to as “predictive answers” for responding touser messages. FIGS. 4A-4B, 5A-5J, and 6A-6E illustrate exemplary userinterfaces for invoking predictive answers. The user interfaces in thefigures are also used to illustrate the processes described below,including those processes in FIGS. 7-10 .

Although the following description uses terms first, second, etc. todescribe various elements, these elements should not be limited by theterms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element fromanother. For example, a first contact could be termed a second contact,and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a first contact,without departing from the scope of the present invention. The firstcontact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not thesame contact.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedembodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in thedescription of the various described embodiments and the appendedclaims, the singular forms “a”, “an,” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as usedherein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. It will be furtherunderstood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or“comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

The term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in responseto determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context.Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated conditionor event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or“in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition orevent]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],”depending on the context.

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as amobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/ormusic player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunctiondevices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California. Other portabledevices, such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitivesurfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touch pads), may also beused. Exemplary embodiments of laptop and tablet computers include,without limitation, the iPad® and MacBook® devices from Apple Inc. ofCupertino, California. It should also be understood that, in someembodiments, the device is not a portable communications device, but isa desktop computer. Exemplary embodiments of desktop computers include,without limitation, the Mac Pro® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino,California.

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the electronic device optionally includes oneor more other physical user-interface devices, such as button(s), aphysical keyboard, a mouse, and/or a joystick.

The device may support a variety of applications, such as one or more ofthe following: a drawing application, a presentation application, a wordprocessing application, a website creation application, a disk authoringapplication, a spreadsheet application, a gaming application, atelephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mailapplication, an instant messaging application, a workout supportapplication, a photo management application, a digital cameraapplication, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that are executed on the device optionally useat least one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the deviceare, optionally, adjusted and/or varied from one application to the nextand/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physicalarchitecture (such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the deviceoptionally supports the variety of applications with user interfacesthat are intuitive and transparent to the user.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating exemplary portablemultifunction device 100 with touch-sensitive displays 112 in accordancewith some embodiments. Touch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a“touch screen” for convenience. Device 100 may include memory 102.Device 100 may include memory controller 122, one or more processingunits (CPU's) 120, peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audiocircuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, input/output (I/O) subsystem106, other input or control devices 116, and external port 124. Device100 may include one or more optical sensors 164. Bus/signal lines 103may allow these components to communicate with one another. Device 100is one example of an electronic device that could be used to perform thetechniques described herein. Specific implementations involving device100 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two ormore components, or may have a different configuration or arrangement ofthe components. The various components shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B may beimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both. Thecomponents also can be implemented using one or more signal processingand/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 102 may include one or more computer readable storage mediums.The computer readable storage mediums may be tangible andnon-transitory. Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memoryand may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magneticdisk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatilesolid-state memory devices. Memory controller 122 may control access tomemory 102 by other components of device 100.

Peripherals interface 118 can be used to couple input and outputperipherals of the device to CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or moreprocessors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets ofinstructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions fordevice 100 and to process data. In some embodiments, peripheralsinterface 118, CPU 120, and memory controller 122 may be implemented ona single chip, such as chip 104. In some other embodiments, they may beimplemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 may include well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, alsoreferred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and otherdevices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may useany of a plurality of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol fore-mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or post officeprotocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging andpresence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for InstantMessaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messagingand Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or anyother suitable communication protocol, including communication protocolsnot yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, and microphone 113 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 100. Audio circuitry 110 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 111.Speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 113 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 110 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data may be retrievedfrom and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or RF circuitry 108 byperipherals interface 118. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 110 alsoincludes a headset jack (e.g., 212, FIG. 2 ). The headset jack providesan interface between audio circuitry 110 and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on device 100, suchas touch screen 112 and other input control devices 116, to peripheralsinterface 118. I/O subsystem 106 may include display controller 156 andone or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices.The one or more input controllers 160 receive/send electrical signalsfrom/to other input or control devices 116. The other input controldevices 116 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rockerbuttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and soforth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 160 may becoupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port,USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons(e.g., 208, FIG. 2 ) may include an up/down button for volume control ofspeaker 111 and/or microphone 113. The one or more buttons may include apush button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2 ). A quick press of the push button maydisengage a lock of touch screen 112 or begin a process that usesgestures on the touch screen to unlock the device, as described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device byPerforming Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, U.S. Pat.No. 7,657,849, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206) may turn powerto device 100 on or off. The user may be able to customize afunctionality of one or more of the buttons. Touch screen 112 is used toimplement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

Touch-sensitive display 112 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 156 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 112. Touch screen112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may includegraphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectivelytermed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visualoutput may correspond to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensorsthat accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact.Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 (along with any associatedmodules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (andany movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 112 andconverts the detected contact into interaction with user-interfaceobjects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web-pages or images) thatare displayed on touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, a pointof contact between touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a fingerof the user.

Touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD(light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emittingdiode) technology, although other display technologies may be used inother embodiments. Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 maydetect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of aplurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed,including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, andsurface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensorarrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contactwith touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutualcapacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in theiPhone® and iPod Touch® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 112 may beanalogous to the multi-touch sensitive touchpads described in thefollowing U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), 6,570,557(Westerman et al.), and/or 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. PatentPublication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. However, touch screen 112 displays visualoutput from device 100, whereas touch sensitive touchpads do not providevisual output.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 112 may beas described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,” filed May 2,2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “MultipointTouchscreen,” filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jul. 30,2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,264, “Gestures ForTouch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 31, 2005; (5) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical User InterfacesFor Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,758, “Virtual Input Device Placement On ATouch Screen User Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (7) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation Of A Computer With A TouchScreen Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (8) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen VirtualKeyboard,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. Allof these applications are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

Touch screen 112 may have a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi. Insome embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user may make contact with touch screen 112using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, andso forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to workprimarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be lessprecise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translatesthe rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position orcommand for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 100 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

Device 100 also includes power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 162 may include a power management system, oneor more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIGS. 1Aand 1B show an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 158in I/O subsystem 106. Optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupleddevice (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)phototransistors. Optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 143(also called a camera module), optical sensor 164 may capture stillimages or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located onthe back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112 on the frontof the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as aviewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device sothat the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencing while theuser views the other video conference participants on the touch screendisplay. In some embodiments, the position of optical sensor 164 can bechanged by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in thedevice housing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used alongwith the touch screen display for both video conferencing and stilland/or video image acquisition.

Device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIGS. 1Aand 1B show proximity sensor 166 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to input controller 160in I/O subsystem 106. Proximity sensor 166 may perform as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector InHandheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In HandheldDevice”; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To AugmentProximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response ToAnd Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”; and Ser. No.11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration OfPeripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off anddisables touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placed nearthe user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more tactile outputgenerators 167. FIG. 1A shows a tactile output generator coupled tohaptic feedback controller 161 in I/O subsystem 106. Tactile outputgenerator 167 optionally includes one or more electroacoustic devicessuch as speakers or other audio components and/or electromechanicaldevices that convert energy into linear motion such as a motor,solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostaticactuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., acomponent that converts electrical signals into tactile outputs on thedevice). Contact intensity sensor 165 receives tactile feedbackgeneration instructions from haptic feedback module 133 and generatestactile outputs on device 100 that are capable of being sensed by a userof device 100. In some embodiments, at least one tactile outputgenerator is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112) and, optionally, generates atactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g.,in/out of a surface of device 100) or laterally (e.g., back and forth inthe same plane as a surface of device 100). In some embodiments, atleast one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back ofdevice 100, opposite touch screen display 112, which is located on thefront of device 100.

Device 100 may also include one or more accelerometers 168. FIGS. 1A and1B show accelerometer 168 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, accelerometer 168 may be coupled to an input controller 160in I/O subsystem 106. Accelerometer 168 may perform as described in U.S.Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft DetectionSystem for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No.20060017692, “Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable DeviceBased On An Accelerometer,” both of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayedon the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view basedon an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.Device 100 optionally includes, in addition to accelerometer(s) 168, amagnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other globalnavigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaining informationconcerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) ofdevice 100.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102include operating system 126, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, text input module (or setof instructions) 134, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 135, and applications (or sets of instructions) 136.Furthermore, in some embodiments memory 102 stores device/globalinternal state 157, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 3 . Device/globalinternal state 157 includes one or more of: active application state,indicating which applications, if any, are currently active; displaystate, indicating what applications, views or other information occupyvarious regions of touch screen display 112; sensor state, includinginformation obtained from the device's various sensors and input controldevices 116; and location information concerning the device's locationand/or attitude.

Operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between varioushardware and software components.

Communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 124 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 108 and/orexternal port 124. External port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin connector that is thesame as, or similar to and/or compatible with the 8-pin and/or 30-pinconnectors used on devices made by Apple Inc.

Contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with touch screen 112 (inconjunction with display controller 156) and other touch sensitivedevices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Contact/motionmodule 130 includes various software components for performing variousoperations related to detection of contact, such as determining ifcontact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determiningif there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger-draggingevents), and determining if the contact has ceased (e.g., detecting afinger-up event or a break in contact). Contact/motion module 130receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determiningmovement of the point of contact, which is represented by a series ofcontact data, may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity(magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitudeand/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may beapplied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiplesimultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). Insome embodiments, contact/motion module 130 and display controller 156detects contact on a touchpad. In some embodiments, contact/motionmodule 130 and controller 160 detects contact on a click wheel.

Contact/motion module 130 may detect a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns. Thus, a gesture may be detected by detecting a particularcontact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includesdetecting a finger-down event followed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially the same position) asthe finger-down event (e.g., at the position of an icon). As anotherexample, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceincludes detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting one or morefinger-dragging events, and subsequently followed by detecting afinger-up (lift off) event.

Graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 112 or other display,including components for changing the intensity of graphics that aredisplayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object thatcan be displayed to a user, including without limitation text,web-pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys),digital images, videos, animations and the like. In some embodiments,graphics module 132 stores data representing graphics to be used. Eachgraphic may be assigned a corresponding code. Graphics module 132receives, from applications etc., one or more codes specifying graphicsto be displayed along with, if necessary, coordinate data and othergraphic property data, and then generates screen image data to output todisplay controller 156.

Haptic feedback module 133 includes various software components forgenerating instructions used by tactile output generator(s) 167 toproduce tactile outputs at one or more locations on device 100 inresponse to user interactions with device 100.

Text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module 132,provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g.,contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, browser 147, and any other applicationthat needs text input).

GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 foruse in location-based dialing, to camera 143 as picture/video metadata,and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   Telephone module 138;    -   Video conferencing module 139;    -   E-mail client module 140;    -   Instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   Workout support module 142;    -   Camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   Image management module 144;    -   Video player module;    -   Music player module;    -   Browser module 147;    -   Calendar module 148;    -   Widget modules 149, which may include one or more of: weather        widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3,        alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other        widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets        149-6;    -   Widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;    -   Search module 151;    -   Video and music player module 152, which merges video player        module and music player module;    -   Notes module 153;    -   Map module 154; and/or    -   Online video module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that may be stored in memory 102include other word processing applications, other image editingapplications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156,contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module134, contacts module 137 may be used to manage an address book orcontact list (e.g., stored in application internal state 192 of contactsmodule 137 in memory 102 or memory 370), including: adding name(s) tothe address book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associatingtelephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or otherinformation with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizingand sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses toinitiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 138, videoconference module 139, e-mail 140, or IM 141; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact/motionmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, telephonemodule 138 may be used to enter a sequence of characters correspondingto a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in addressbook 137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial arespective telephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect orhang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication may use any of a plurality of communications standards,protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module132, text input module 134, contacts module 137, and telephone module138, video conference module 139 includes executable instructions toinitiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user andone or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and textinput module 134, e-mail client module 140 includes executableinstructions to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response touser instructions. In conjunction with image management module 144,e-mail client module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mailswith still or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video filesand/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or an EnhancedMessaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers toboth telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, map module 154, and music player module,workout support module 142 includes executable instructions to createworkouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals);communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workoutsensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select andplay music for a workout; and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, opticalsensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact/motion module 130,graphics module 132, and image management module 144, camera module 143includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 102, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156,contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134,and camera module 143, image management module 144 includes executableinstructions to arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate,label, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), andstore still and/or video images.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156,contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, andspeaker 111, video player module 145 includes executable instructions todisplay, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., on touch screen112 or on an external, connected display via external port 124).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, music player module 146includes executable instructions that allow the user to download andplay back recorded music and other sound files stored in one or morefile formats, such as MP3 or AAC files. In some embodiments, device 100may include the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod(trademark of Apple Inc.).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and textinput module 134, browser module 147 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web-pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web-pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, textinput module 134, e-mail client module 140, and browser module 147,calendar module 148 includes executable instructions to create, display,modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g.,calendar entries, to do lists, etc.) in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, textinput module 134, and browser module 147, widget modules 149 aremini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3,alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, textinput module 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150may be used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specifiedportion of a web-page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156,contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module134, search module 151 includes executable instructions to search fortext, music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 102 thatmatch one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specifiedsearch terms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156,contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110,speaker 111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, video and musicplayer module 152 includes executable instructions that allow the userto download and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present, or otherwise play back videos (e.g.,on touch screen 112 or on an external, connected display via externalport 124). In some embodiments, device 100 optionally includes thefunctionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of AppleInc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156,contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module134, notes module 153 includes executable instructions to create andmanage notes, to-do lists, and the like in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, textinput module 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, map module 154may be used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and dataassociated with maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and otherpoints of interest at or near a particular location; and otherlocation-based data) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156,contact/motion module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110,speaker 111, RF circuitry 108, text input module 134, e-mail clientmodule 140, and browser module 147, online video module 155 includesinstructions that allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., bystreaming and/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or onan external, connected display via external port 124), send an e-mailwith a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage onlinevideos in one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments,instant messaging module 141, rather than e-mail client module 140, isused to send a link to a particular online video. Additional descriptionof the online video application can be found in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/936,562, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, andGraphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Jun. 20,2007, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/968,067, “PortableMultifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for PlayingOnline Videos,” filed Dec. 31, 2007, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

Each of the above identified modules and applications corresponds to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwiserearranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module maybe combined with music player module into a single module (e.g., videoand music player module 152, FIG. 1B). In some embodiments, memory 102may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 102 may store additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device100, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user,navigates device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that may be displayed on device 100. In such embodiments, a“menu button” is implemented using a touchpad. In some otherembodiments, the menu button is a physical push button or other physicalinput control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 102 (in FIG. 1A) or 370 (FIG. 3 ) includes event sorter 170(e.g., in operating system 126) and a respective application 136-1(e.g., any of the aforementioned applications 137-151, 155, 380-390).

Event sorter 170 receives event information and determines theapplication 136-1 and application view 191 of application 136-1 to whichto deliver the event information. Event sorter 170 includes eventmonitor 171 and event dispatcher module 174. In some embodiments,application 136-1 includes application internal state 192, whichindicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch sensitivedisplay 112 when the application is active or executing. In someembodiments, device/global internal state 157 is used by event sorter170 to determine which application(s) is(are) currently active, andapplication internal state 192 is used by event sorter 170 to determineapplication views 191 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 192 includes additionalinformation, such as one or more of: resume information to be used whenapplication 136-1 resumes execution, user interface state informationthat indicates information being displayed or that is ready for displayby application 136-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back toa prior state or view of application 136-1, and a redo/undo queue ofprevious actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 171 receives event information from peripherals interface118. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., auser touch on touch-sensitive display 112, as part of a multi-touchgesture). Peripherals interface 118 transmits information it receivesfrom I/O subsystem 106 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 166,accelerometer(s) 168, and/or microphone 113 (through audio circuitry110). Information that peripherals interface 118 receives from I/Osubsystem 106 includes information from touch-sensitive display 112 or atouch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 171 sends requests to the peripheralsinterface 118 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheralsinterface 118 transmits event information. In other embodiments,peripherals interface 118 transmits event information only when there isa significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predeterminednoise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration). In someembodiments, event sorter 170 also includes a hit view determinationmodule 172 and/or an active event recognizer determination module 173.

Hit view determination module 172 provides software procedures fordetermining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more views,when touch sensitive display 112 displays more than one view. Views aremade up of controls and other elements that a user can see on thedisplay.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is aset of views, sometimes herein called application views or userinterface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-basedgestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) inwhich a touch is detected may correspond to programmatic levels within aprogrammatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example, thelowest level view in which a touch is detected may be called the hitview, and the set of events that are recognized as proper inputs may bedetermined based, at least in part, on the hit view of the initial touchthat begins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 172 receives information related tosub-events of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multipleviews organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 172identifies a hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which shouldhandle the sub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowestlevel view in which an initiating sub-event occurs (e.g., the firstsub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potentialevent). Once the hit view is identified by the hit view determinationmodule 172, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related tothe same touch or input source for which it was identified as the hitview.

Active event recognizer determination module 173 determines which viewor views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence ofsub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determinationmodule 173 determines that only the hit view should receive a particularsequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizerdetermination module 173 determines that all views that include thephysical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, andtherefore determines that all actively involved views should receive aparticular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touchsub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with oneparticular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain asactively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 174 dispatches the event information to an eventrecognizer (e.g., event recognizer 180). In embodiments including activeevent recognizer determination module 173, event dispatcher module 174delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined byactive event recognizer determination module 173. In some embodiments,event dispatcher module 174 stores in an event queue the eventinformation, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver 182.

In some embodiments, operating system 126 includes event sorter 170.Alternatively, application 136-1 includes event sorter 170. In yet otherembodiments, event sorter 170 is a stand-alone module, or a part ofanother module stored in memory 102, such as contact/motion module 130.

In some embodiments, application 136-1 includes a plurality of eventhandlers 190 and one or more application views 191, each of whichincludes instructions for handling touch events that occur within arespective view of the application's user interface. Each applicationview 191 of the application 136-1 includes one or more event recognizers180. Typically, a respective application view 191 includes a pluralityof event recognizers 180. In other embodiments, one or more of eventrecognizers 180 are part of a separate module, such as a user interfacekit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 136-1inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent handler 190 includes one or more of: data updater 176, objectupdater 177, GUI updater 178, and/or event data 179 received from eventsorter 170. Event handler 190 may utilize or call data updater 176,object updater 177, or GUI updater 178 to update the applicationinternal state 192. Alternatively, one or more of the application views191 include one or more respective event handlers 190. Also, in someembodiments, one or more of data updater 176, object updater 177, andGUI updater 178 are included in a respective application view 191.

A respective event recognizer 180 receives event information (e.g.,event data 179) from event sorter 170 and identifies an event from theevent information. Event recognizer 180 includes event receiver 182 andevent comparator 184. In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 alsoincludes at least a subset of: metadata 183, and event deliveryinstructions 188 (which may include sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 182 receives event information from event sorter 170. Theevent information includes information about a sub-event, for example, atouch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the eventinformation also includes additional information, such as location ofthe sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch the eventinformation may also include speed and direction of the sub-event. Insome embodiments, events include rotation of the device from oneorientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscapeorientation, or vice versa), and the event information includescorresponding information about the current orientation (also calleddevice attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 184 compares the event information to predefined eventor sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines anevent or sub-event, or determines or updates the state of an event orsub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 includes eventdefinitions 186. Event definitions 186 contain definitions of events(e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1(187-1), event 2 (187-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events inan event (187) include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touchmovement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, thedefinition for event 1 (187-1) is a double tap on a displayed object.The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) onthe displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on thedisplayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition forevent 2 (187-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, forexample, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for apredetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitivedisplay 112, and liftoff of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments,the event also includes information for one or more associated eventhandlers 190.

In some embodiments, event definitions 187 include a definition of anevent for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, eventcomparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which user-interfaceobject is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an applicationview in which three user-interface objects are displayed ontouch-sensitive display 112, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitivedisplay 112, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine whichof the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch(sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respectiveevent handler 190, the event comparator uses the result of the hit testto determine which event handler 190 should be activated. For example,event comparator 184 selects an event handler associated with thesub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event (187) alsoincludes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event informationuntil after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-eventsdoes or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 180 determines that the series ofsub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 186, therespective event recognizer 180 enters an event impossible, eventfailed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequentsub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other eventrecognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue totrack and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 includes metadata183 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate howthe event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to activelyinvolved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includesconfigurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how eventrecognizers may interact, or are enabled to interact, with one another.In some embodiments, metadata 183 includes configurable properties,flags, and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered tovarying levels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 activates eventhandler 190 associated with an event when one or more particularsub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent recognizer 180 delivers event information associated with theevent to event handler 190. Activating an event handler 190 is distinctfrom sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view.In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 throws a flag associated withthe recognized event, and event handler 190 associated with the flagcatches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 188 include sub-eventdelivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-eventwithout activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event deliveryinstructions deliver event information to event handlers associated withthe series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlersassociated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved viewsreceive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 176 creates and updates data used inapplication 136-1. For example, data updater 176 updates the telephonenumber used in contacts module 137, or stores a video file used in videoplayer module. In some embodiments, object updater 177 creates andupdates objects used in application 136-1. For example, object updater177 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of auser-interface object. GUI updater 178 updates the GUI. For example, GUIupdater 178 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module132 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 190 includes or has access to dataupdater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178. In someembodiments, data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178are included in a single module of a respective application 136-1 orapplication view 191. In other embodiments, they are included in two ormore software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding eventhandling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies toother forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices 100 withinput devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens. Forexample, mouse movement and mouse button presses, optionally coordinatedwith single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movementssuch as taps, drags, scrolls, etc. on touchpads; pen stylus inputs;movement of the device; oral instructions; detected eye movements;biometric inputs; and/or any combination thereof are optionally utilizedas inputs corresponding to sub-events which define an event to berecognized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touchscreen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen maydisplay one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200. In thisembodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one ormore of the graphics by making contact or touching the graphics, forexample, with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure)or one or more styluses 203 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In someembodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the userbreaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, thecontact may include a gesture, such as one or more taps, one or moreswipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward)and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upwardand/or downward) that has made contact with device 100. In someembodiments, inadvertent contact with a graphic may not select thegraphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an applicationicon may not select the corresponding application when the gesturecorresponding to selection is a tap.

Device 100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home”or menu button 204. As described previously, menu button 204 may be usedto navigate to any application 136 in a set of applications that may beexecuted on device 100. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen112.

In one embodiment, device 100 includes touch screen 112, menu button204, push button 206 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 208, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card slot 210, head set jack 212, and docking/charging externalport 124. Push button 206 may be used to turn the power on/off on thedevice by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressedstate for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressingthe button and releasing the button before the predefined time intervalhas elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process.In an alternative embodiment, device 100 also may accept verbal inputfor activation or deactivation of some functions through microphone 113.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 300 need not be portable. In some embodiments,device 300 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer,a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device(such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device(e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 300 typically includesone or more processing units (CPU's) 310, one or more network or othercommunications interfaces 360, memory 370, and one or more communicationbuses 320 for interconnecting these components. Communication buses 320may include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnectsand controls communications between system components. Device 300includes input/output (I/O) interface 330 comprising display 340, whichis typically a touch screen display. I/O interface 330 also may includea keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device) 350 and touchpad 355.Memory 370 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM,DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices; and mayinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 370 may optionallyinclude one or more storage devices remotely located from CPU(s) 310. Insome embodiments, memory 370 stores programs, modules, and datastructures analogous to the programs, modules, and data structuresstored in memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1 ), ora subset thereof. Furthermore, memory 370 may store additional programs,modules, and data structures not present in memory 102 of portablemultifunction device 100. For example, memory 370 of device 300 maystore drawing module 380, presentation module 382, word processingmodule 384, website creation module 386, disk authoring module 388,and/or spreadsheet module 390, while memory 102 of portablemultifunction device 100 (FIG. 1 ) may not store these modules.

Each of the above identified elements in FIG. 3 may be stored in one ormore of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of the aboveidentified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing afunction described above. The above identified modules or programs(i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separatesoftware programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets ofthese modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in variousembodiments. In some embodiments, memory 370 may store a subset of themodules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 370may store additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)that may be implemented on portable multifunction device 100. FIG. 4Aillustrates exemplary user interfaces for a menu of applications onportable multifunction device 100 in accordance with some embodiments.Similar user interfaces may be implemented on device 300. In someembodiments, user interface 400 includes the following elements, or asubset or superset thereof:

-   -   Signal strength indicator(s) 402 for wireless communication(s),        such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals;    -   Time 404;    -   Bluetooth indicator 405;    -   Battery status indicator 406;    -   Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Icon 416 for telephone module 138, labeled “Phone,” which            optionally includes an indicator 414 of the number of missed            calls or voicemail messages;        -   Icon 418 for e-mail client module 140, labeled “Mail,” which            optionally includes an indicator 410 of the number of unread            e-mails;        -   Icon 420 for browser module 147, labeled “Browser;” and        -   Icon 422 for video and music player module 152, also            referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 152,            labeled “iPod;” and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   Icon 424 for IM module 141, labeled “Messages;”        -   Icon 426 for calendar module 148, labeled “Calendar;”        -   Icon 428 for image management module 144, labeled “Photos;”        -   Icon 430 for camera module 143, labeled “Camera;”        -   Icon 432 for online video module 155, labeled “Online            Video;”        -   Icon 434 for stocks widget 149-2, labeled “Stocks;”        -   Icon 436 for map module 154, labeled “Maps;”        -   Icon 438 for weather widget 149-1, labeled “Weather;”        -   Icon 440 for alarm clock widget 149-4, labeled “Clock;”        -   Icon 442 for workout support module 142, labeled “Workout            Support;”        -   Icon 444 for notes module 153, labeled “Notes;” and        -   Icon 446 for a settings application or module, labeled            “Settings,” which provides access to settings for device 100            and its various applications 136.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3 ) with a touch-sensitive surface 451 (e.g., a tabletor touchpad 355, FIG. 3 ) that is separate from the display 450 (e.g.,touch screen display 112). Although many of the examples which followwill be given with reference to inputs on touch screen display 112(where the touch sensitive surface and the display are combined), insome embodiments, the device detects inputs on a touch-sensitive surfacethat is separate from the display, as shown in FIG. 4B. In someembodiments the touch sensitive surface (e.g., 451) has a primary axis(e.g., 452) that corresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 453) on thedisplay (e.g., 450). In accordance with these embodiments, the devicedetects contacts (e.g., 460 and 462) with the touch-sensitive surface451 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display(e.g., 460 corresponds to 468 and 462 corresponds to 470). In this way,user inputs (e.g., contacts 460 and 462, and movements thereof) detectedby the device on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 451) are used by thedevice to manipulate the user interface on the display (e.g., 450) ofthe multifunction device when the touch-sensitive surface is separatefrom the display. It should be understood that similar methods may beused for other user interfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily withreference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures,finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in someembodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with inputfrom another input device (e.g., a mouse-based input or stylus input).For example, a swipe gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click(e.g., instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor alongthe path of the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). Asanother example, a tap gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouseclick while the cursor is located over the location of the tap gesture(e.g., instead of detection of the contact followed by ceasing to detectthe contact). Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneouslydetected, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are,optionally, used simultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts are,optionally, used simultaneously.

As used in the specification and claims, the term “open application”refers to a software application with retained state information (e.g.,as part of device/global internal state 157 and/or application internalstate 192). An open (e.g., executing) application is any one of thefollowing types of applications:

-   -   an active application, which is currently displayed on display        112 (or a corresponding application view is currently displayed        on the display);    -   a background application (or background process), which is not        currently displayed on display 112, but one or more application        processes (e.g., instructions) for the corresponding application        are being processed by one or more processors 120 (i.e.,        running);    -   a suspended application, which is not currently running, and the        application is stored in a volatile memory (e.g., DRAM, SRAM,        DDR RAM, or other volatile random access solid state memory        device of memory 102); and    -   a hibernated application, which is not running, and the        application is stored in a non-volatile memory (e.g., one or        more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage        devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state        storage devices of memory 102).

As used herein, the term “closed application” refers to softwareapplications without retained state information (e.g., state informationfor closed applications is not stored in a memory of the device).Accordingly, closing an application includes stopping and/or removingapplication processes for the application and removing state informationfor the application from the memory of the device. Generally, opening asecond application while in a first application does not close the firstapplication. When the second application is displayed and the firstapplication ceases to be displayed, the first application becomes abackground application.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)and associated processes that may be implemented on an electronic devicewith a display and a touch-sensitive surface, such as devices 100 and/or300, to improve a user's experience in messaging applications. Forbrevity, the techniques described herein may be referred to as“predictive answers” or “canned answers”. For purposes of thisdisclosure, a messaging application is a software application thatsupports the sending and receiving of messages between different users(e.g., participants). Messaging applications are sometimes referred toas “chat programs” or “chat rooms.” A “message” refers to a piece ofinformation that is sent to/from participants in a conversation. Amessage may contain one or more of the following types of information:text, an image (including icons and other affordances, whetherinteractive or not), a video, an audio clip, an emoji, and so forth. A“message transcript” refers to a listing of messages between theparticipant(s) of a message-based conversation.

Exemplary User Interfaces

FIGS. 5A-5C demonstrate exemplary user interfaces that supportpredictive answers, used in some embodiments. FIG. 5A shows electronicdevice 500. Electronic device 500 may be portable multifunction device100 in some embodiments. Electronic device 500 may be multifunctiondevice 300 in some embodiments. In the illustrated example, electronicdevice 500 is a cellular phone. Cellular phone 500 may display a userinterface screen provided by a messaging software application. The userinterface screen may have message transcript 502 showing a conversationbetween the user of device 500 and one or more participants, such asparticipant 506. Message transcript 502 may include message 504,received from (a device used by) participant 506.

The content of message 504—“are you going to be around in the next halfhour to an hour?”—is a question. In linguistics parlance, this sentenceconstitutes an interrogatory. Device 500 is able to make thisdetermination that message 504 contains an interrogatory. (As discussedin more detail below, the determination may be based on the verbiage“are you” appearing at the beginning of the message and the questionmark at the end of the message.) On this basis, device 500 displaysaffordances 510, 512, and 514 horizontally across region 508.Affordances 510, 512, and 514 represent answers that device 500 predictsto be helpful to the user in responding to message 504. As shown, thesuggested predictive answers include “yes,” “no,” and “maybe.”

The user of device 500 may select one of the displayed affordances tosend the corresponding predictive answer to participant 506. In someembodiments, the selection may be made through touch event(s) (e.g., atap, a swipe, a flick, a hold, etc.). In some embodiments, the selectionmay be made through mouse event(s) (e.g., a hover, click, double-click,drag, etc.). In the example illustrated by FIG. 5B, the user selectsaffordance 510 (representing “yes”) by contacting (e.g., tapping) thetouch-sensitive display of device 500 at the location of affordance 510.

Turning to FIG. 5C, in response the selection of affordance 510, device500 inserts the corresponding predictive answer (“yes”) into messagetranscript 502. As shown, the answer “yes” is inserted into region 512.Device 500 may also send the predictive answer to the participant(s) ofthe on-going conversation, without requiring further user input. In thisway, device 500 allows its user to respond to participant 506 quicklyand meaningfully, in that the user was able to respond in a relevantmanner without having to type out the reply manually.

Region 512 may have different visual appearances in differentembodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, region 512 appears as amessage bubble. The phrase “message bubble” is used here consistent withits ordinary meaning in the art to refer to graphic conventionsrepresenting a person's speech. Speech bubbles are also sometimesreferred to as speech balloons and dialogue balloons. However,affordance 512 need not be limited to a speech bubble; in someembodiments (not shown), region 512 may take on a geometric shape, suchas a rectangle having rounded corners or may be presented as plain textwithout a geometric container. More generally speaking, in someembodiments, region 512 may be a contiguous display region that isdistinct from the background of message transcript 502.

Predictive answer functionalities provide multiple benefits. Theavailability of predictive answers reduces the cognitive and physicalburden on a user who is conversing with other participant(s) in amessage conversation, thereby improving user experience and efficiency.In addition to improving user experience, predictive answers can alsoreduce processor and battery power otherwise wasted on processing themultiple user inputs that would be required to input a responsivemessage.

Nevertheless, sometimes, it is necessary for a user to type out a moredetailed response to an incoming message. Device 500 provides virtualkeyboard 520 for this purpose. For example, in response to message 504(FIG. 5A), the user may wish to clarify that she can stay for 45minutes, which neither a half hour to a full hour as prompted by message504. While providing predictive answers, device 500 can also accommodatethe additional input modalities of keyboard input. Turning back to FIG.5A, device 500 may display both virtual keyboard 520 and predictiveanswers simultaneously. Indeed, in the example of FIG. 5A, region 508for invoking predictive answers is displayed contiguous with virtualkeyboard 520. As a result, a user who is able to reach one inputmodality (e.g., predictive answers)—while gripping device 500 in acertain way—is also likely to be able to access the other input modality(e.g., virtual keyboard 520) without having to reposition the device.However, as will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, thepresent invention is not limited to placement of the predicted answersmodality contiguous with the virtual keyboard 520, and the predictedanswers modality can be located anywhere on the screen.

To further provide a seamless user experience across different inputmodalities, in some embodiments, as the user begins to type usingvirtual keyboard 520, device 500 switches from providing predictiveanswers to providing auto-correct recommendations. This aspect isfurther described via FIG. 5D with reference back to FIG. 5A: When auser begins typing by selecting key 522 (i.e., “y”), device 500 maycease to display predictive answers (e.g., affordances 510, 512, and514). Instead, device 500 may display auto-correct affordances 524, 526,and 528. In some embodiments, auto-correct affordances 524, 526, and 528replace predictive answers affordances 510, 512, and 514 (FIG. 5A) inregion 508. These auto-correct affordances may represent recommendationsbased on the user's key presses. As shown, in response to the input “y,”device 500 offers “yes,” “yep,” and “ur” as auto-correctrecommendations. The user may select one of the auto-correct affordancesto send the corresponding recommendation as a message to theparticipant(s) of the on-going message conversation. In this way, device500 permits a user to seamless transition between multiple inputmodalities while retaining the useful features of each modality.

FIGS. 5E-5G demonstrate additional exemplary user interfaces supportingpredictive answers in some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 5E, electronicdevice 500 may display message transcript 530. Message transcript mayinclude message 532 received from participant 540. As discussed above,device 500 is able to determine that message 532 contains aninterrogatory, particularly a question about the user's whereabouts inthe next half hour to hour. In accordance with this determination,device 500 displays affordances 534, 536, and 538 containing thepredictive answers “can't chat now,” “no,” and “yes,” respectively. Inthe illustrated example, affordances 534, 536, and 538 are displayedhorizontally within message transcript 530.

FIG. 5F illustrates an embodiment in which device 500 displayspredictive answer affordances in a vertical arrangement within messagetranscript 548. As shown, predictive answer affordances 542, 544, and546 are displayed vertically. In addition, as shown, a virtual keyboard(e.g., virtual keyboard 520) is not displayed in order to increase spacefor the display of message transcript 548. Device 500 may, however,display a virtual keyboard when a touch event or mouse event on messageinput field 550 is received. In some embodiments, when the virtualkeyboard is invoked, device 500 continues to display affordances 542,544, and 546 vertically. In some embodiments, if a user invokes thedisplay of a virtual keyboard, device 500 transitions to displayaffordances 542, 544, and 546 horizontally across one or more rows. Putanother way, it is possible for device 500 to transition from the userinterface illustrated in FIG. 5F to a user interface screen that issimilar to user interface screen 530 (FIG. 5E), if and when the userinvokes a virtual keyboard.

Predictive answer affordances 534, 536, 538, 542, 544, and 546 shown inFIGS. 5E and 5F are available for user selection. When a displayedpredictive answer affordance is selected, its corresponding message isinserted into the relevant message transcript, and the message is sentto the participant(s) of the ongoing messaging conversation. FIGS. 5Gand 5H illustrate this aspect. As shown in FIG. 5G, device 500 maydisplay predictive answer affordances 534, 536, and 538 in view ofincoming message 532. A user may select affordance 534 representing themessage “can't chat now.” Turning to FIG. 5H, in response to detectingthe user selection of affordance 534, device 500 may display theselected predictive answer in message transcript 530. Specifically, themessage “can't chat now” is inserted into message bubble 552 in messagetranscript 554.

Further, as discussed above, when predictive answer affordances 534,536, 538, 542, 544, and/or 546 are displayed, a user may still type in amessage using a virtual keyboard. FIG. 5I describes this aspect. Asshown FIG. 5I, when a user begins to type on virtual keyboard 540,device 500 may cease to display predictive answers. Optionally, thedevice may display auto-correct recommendations. Comparing FIG. 5I with5E, when a user selects key 522 (i.e., “y”), affordances 534, 536, and538 are removed from the display, while auto-correct affordances 524,526, and 528 become displayed. A user may select one of the auto-correctaffordances to insert a corresponding message into the on-going messagetranscript.

The visual appearance of affordances used to represent predictive answerin different embodiments may vary. Turning back to FIGS. 5E and 5F, inthe illustrated embodiments, affordances 534, 536, 538, 542, 544, and546 are of a rectangular shape with rounded edges. In some embodiments,the affordances may take on the visual appearance of message bubbles. Insome embodiments, the affordances may take on the visual appearance of ageometric shape. In some embodiments, the affordances may be contiguousregions that are visually distinct from a background of the messagetranscript of which it is a part. Also, in the illustrated examples ofFIGS. 5E and 5F, affordances 534, 536, 538, 542, 544, and/or 546 havedashed outlines. Dashed outlines may be used to emphasize that—while thedisplayed affordances are available for user selection—their contentshave not yet been made part of the message transcript. In other words, adashed outline may indicate that a predictive answer is available forselection but has not yet been sent to other participants in the ongoingconversation.

The visual appearance of affordances used to represent predictiveanswers—once the affordance is selected, may also change. Turning againto FIGS. 5G and 5H, affordance 534 (representing the predictive answerof “can't chat now”) has a rectangular shape and dashed edges beforeuser selection. Once selected, the content of affordance 534 isdisplayed inside a message bubble having a solid outline. One ofordinary skill in the art should appreciate that other graphicconventions for displaying message bubbles may be used. For example,instead of a message bubble having a solid outline, device 500 maydisplay a message bubble filled in a color different from the backgroundof message transcript 554 (FIG. 5H), thereby avoiding the need for anyoutline to visually distinguish the message bubble. As discussed above,affordance 534 need not be limited to message bubbles, but may be ofother shapes, as well.

The foregoing examples describe different user interfaces for providingone particular set of predictive answers in response to an exemplaryincoming message. The techniques described herein are not limited tojust one set of predictive responses. Attention is now directed to otherpredictive answers can be provided. In FIG. 5J, device 500 is displayingmessage 560 from participant 562. As shown, message 560 asks question“beef or chicken”? As before, device 500 may determine that message 560contains an interrogatory (based on at least the use of the questionmark in the message). In addition, in parsing message 560, device 500may recognize the interrogatory is one that contains alternativechoices, based on the appearance of the word “or” in the message. Inthis case, device 500 may parse the words immediately before and afterthe word “or”. As applied to the illustrated example, device 500 mayparse the words “beef” and “chicken” because these words appearimmediately before and after “or” in message 560. Device 500 may providethe parsed words as predictive answers. As shown in FIG. 5J, device 500displays predictive answers affordances 564 and 566 corresponding to“beef” and “chicken,” respectively. Optionally, when an incomingquestion is (as is the case here) a question that suggests alternativeanswers, a device 500 may display other predictive answers, such as“neither,” “both,” and/or “don't care,” as these answers often can berelevant to interrogatories having alternative answers. In theillustrated example, affordance 568 corresponds to the answer of “don'tcare.”

The foregoing examples describe predictive answers that are providedonly using text characters. The techniques described herein are notlimited to just suggesting text characters. Rather, predictive answerscan contain other types of suggested characters, including, e.g.,emoji's, affordances (e.g., icons), images, and videos. Conceptually,predictive answers can be any type of information as long as theinformation can be transmitted as a message. For purposes of thisdisclosure, the term “one or more characters” encompasses all of theabove described types of information (e.g., text, emoji's, affordances(e.g., icons), images, videos).

Attention is now directed to these alternative types of predictiveanswers, with reference to FIGS. 6A-6E. Turning first to FIG. 6A, device600 may display message transcript 602 having incoming messages 604,606, and 608. In view of the content of one or more of incoming messages604, 606, and 608, device 600 may display predictive answer affordance610 having a telephone affordance (e.g., icon). If a user selectsaffordance 610, device 600 may initiate a phone call to participant 612.Device 600 may decide to display affordance 610 in at least one of twoways. In some embodiments, device 600 may recognize that the contents ofmost-recently-received message 608 (“can we talk”) as an invitation fromparticipant 612 for voice communication. In some embodiments, device 600may recognize that participant 612 has sent a large number of messagesin quick succession, and thus voice communication may be an appropriate,proactive response. The large number may be a predetermined thresholdset within the software that is running on device 600. In this way,device 600 permits a user to respond to an incoming message by phoningthe message's sender.

Although FIG. 6A illustrates an example in which device 600 displays avoice call affordance as a predictive answer, it should be understoodthat other methods of communication are possible. In some embodiments,device 600 may recognize that the participants to a messagingconversation are using electronic devices that support video calls(e.g., FaceTime® provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California). Inthis case, device 600 may display an affordance for invoking a videocall. In some embodiments, device 600 may additionally consider whetherthe participants are messaging through specific infrastructures indetermining predictive answers. For example, device 600 may display anaffordance for invoking a cellular call when the participants are notconnected via a wide or local area network, but display an affordancefor invoking a Voice-over-IP call otherwise.

Turning to FIG. 6B, device 600 may display message transcript 614 havingincoming message 616. Message 616 contains an inquiry from participant620 as to John Doe's phone number. In view of this content of message616, device 600 may determine whether it has access to John Doe'scontact information. For example, device 600 may be able to produce anelectronic business card for John Doe based on contact informationstored on or otherwise accessible (e.g., through the Cloud) to device600. If device 600 is able to do so, it may display predictive answeraffordance 618 for sending John Doe's electronic business card (e.g.,vCard) to participant 620. In addition, device 600 may displaypredictive answer affordance 619 for sending John Doe's phone number toparticipant 620. If a user selects affordance 618, device 600 may inserta representation of the vCard into message transcript 614 and send thecorresponding vCard information to participant 620. If a user selectsaffordance 619, device 600 may insert the phone number 555-1212 intomessage transcript 614 and send the number to participant 620. In thisway, device 600 permits a user to respond to an incoming message byproviding electronic business card information to the message's sender.

Turning to FIG. 6C, device 600 may display message transcript 622 havingincoming message 624. Message 624 may contain an inquiry fromparticipant 628 as to the location of the user of device 600. In view ofthis content of message 624, device 600 may determine whether it hasaccess to locational information regarding its own whereabouts. Forexample, device 600 may obtain GPS coordinate information from on-boardGPS module 136 (FIG. 1A). If location information is available, device600 may display predictive answer affordance 626 for sending theuser/device's location to participant 628. If a user selects affordance626, device 600 may insert a representation of the user/device'slocation (e.g., a map image) into message transcript 622 and send thecorresponding location information to the device used by participant628. In this way, device 600 permits a user to respond to an incomingmessage by providing locational information to the message's sender.

Turning to FIG. 6D, device 600 may display message transcript 630 havingincoming message 632. Message 632 may be a message from particularparticipant-of-interest 640. In some embodiments,participants-of-interest are designated by a user of device 600 (e.g.,user favorites). In some embodiments, participants-of-interest arecontacts most messaged by the user of device 600. In view of message 632being sent by participant-of-interest 640, device 600 may displaypredictive answers that are most likely to be relevant for participant640. In some embodiments, device 600 considers those answersmost-frequently sent to participant 640 as being relevant. In someembodiments, device 600 considers those answers most-recently sent toparticipant 640 as being relevant. In the illustrated embodiments,device 600 includes emoji icons as possible predictive answers (e.g.,affordance 634). If a user selects one of the displayed affordances 634,636, or 638, device 600 may display the corresponding answer in messagestranscript 630 and send the corresponding message toparticipant-of-interest 640. In some embodiments, device 600 may rankthe predictive answers and display the highest ranked answer in aspecific on-screen location (e.g., as the center affordance in ahorizontal arrangement such as FIG. 5A, or as the top affordance in avertical arrangement such as FIG. 5F). For example, device 600 maydetermine that the phrase “yes, dear” is most frequently sent message toparticipant 640 and therefore display the corresponding affordance 636as the middle affordance in region 639.

Turning to FIG. 6E, device 600 may display message transcript 650 havingincoming message 652. Message 652 may contain an inquiry fromparticipant 654 as to the time of John's birthday party. In view of thiscontent of message 652, device 600 may determine whether it has accessto a calendar entry referring to John's birthday party. For example,device 600 may be able to produce a calendar invitation titled “John'sBirthday” based on calendar information stored on or otherwiseaccessible (e.g., through the Cloud) to device 600. If device 600 isable to do so, it may display predictive answer affordance 658 forsending a copy of the calendar event to participant 654. In addition,device 600 may be able to parse the obtained calendar information todetermine that the start time of John's party is 730 pm. If device 600is able to do so, it may display predictive answer affordance 656 forsending the start time as text to participant 654. If a user selectsaffordance 656 or 658, the corresponding information (“730 pm” and acalendar event, respectively) may be sent to participant 654. Device 600may also insert a representation of the sent information into messagetranscript 650.

Exemplary Processes

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating process 700 for providingpredictive answers. Process 700 may be performed at an electronic devicewith a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like device 100 (FIG. 1 )and device 300 (FIG. 3 ). At block 702, the device displays a messagetranscript, the message transcript including at least one message fromat least a first user. At block 704, the device determines, based atleast in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested oneor more characters. These suggested one or more characters may be drawnfrom the examples of predictive answers discussed above with referenceto FIGS. 5A-5J and 6A-6D, for example. At block 706, the devicedisplays, on its touch-sensitive display, the plurality of suggested oneor more characters. The display may be drawn from the examples of userinterface layouts described above with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5E, and5F, for example. At block 708, the device detects an input on thetouch-sensitive display. At block 710, the device determines whether theinput represents user selection of one of the plurality of suggested oneor more characters. At block 710, the device, in accordance with adetermination that the input represents user selection of one of theplurality of suggested one or more characters, displays the selected oneof the plurality of suggested one or more characters in the messagetranscript.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating process 800 for providingpredictive answers. Process 800 may be performed at an electronic devicewith a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like device 100 (FIG. 1 )and device 300 (FIG. 3 ). At block 802, the device displays, in a firstregion of the display, a message transcript, the message transcriptincluding at least one message from at least a first user. At block 804,the device displays, in a second region of the display, a virtualkeyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys. Atblock 806, the device displays, in a third region of the display, aplurality of suggested one or more characters, the plurality ofsuggested characters determined based, at least in-part, on a content ofthe at least one message received from the first user. In someembodiments, the third region is displayed contiguous with one of thefirst and second regions. In some embodiments, the third region isdisplayed contiguous with the first and second regions. At block 808,optionally, the device detects input representing user selection of asuggested one or more characters from the displayed plurality of one ormore characters. At block 810, optionally, in response to in response todetecting the input, the device displays the selected suggested one ormore characters into the message transcript in the first area.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating process 900 for providingpredictive answers. Process 900 may be performed at an electronic devicewith a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like device 100 (FIG. 1 )and device 300 (FIG. 3 ). At block 902, the device displays a messagetranscript, the message transcript including at least one message fromat least a first user. At block 904, the device determines, based atleast in-part on the at least one message, a plurality of suggested oneor more characters. At block 906, the device displays a first suggestedone or more characters of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters in a first region on the touch-sensitive display. The regionmay be a contiguous region visually distinguished from the background ofthe message transcript. At block 908, optionally, the device detectsinput representing a contact on a displayed text input area, and inresponse to detecting the input, displays a virtual keyboard. Thedisplayed virtual keyboard may include a number of character keys. Atblock 910, optionally, the device detects keyboard input representingone or more contacts on the virtual keyboard, and in response todetecting the keyboard input, the device ceases to the display the firstsuggested one or more characters.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating process 1000 for providingpredictive answers. Process 1000 may be performed at an electronicdevice with a display and a touch-sensitive surface, like device 100(FIG. 1 ) and device 300 (FIG. 3 ). At block 1002, the device displays amessage transcript, the message transcript including at least onemessage from at least a first user. At block 1004, the devicedetermines, based at least in-part on the at least one message, aplurality of suggested one or more characters. At block 1006, the devicedisplays a first affordance representing a first suggested one or morecharacters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters at thebottom of the message transcript. At block 1008, optionally, the devicedetects input representing user selection of the first affordance, andin response to detecting the input, sends the first suggested responseto the first user. At block 1010, optionally, in response to detectingthe input, the device displays the first suggested one or morecharacters in the message transcript.

It should be understood that the particular order in which theoperations in FIGS. 7-10 have been described is merely exemplary and isnot intended to indicate that the described order is the only order inwhich the operations could be performed. One of ordinary skill in theart would recognize various ways to reorder the operations describedherein. Additionally, it should be noted that processes 700-1000 mayadditionally incorporate the functionalities described about withrespect to FIGS. 5A-5J to produce new processes and user interfaces. Forexample, the switching of displays of predictive answers andauto-correct recommendations, described with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5D,for example, may be incorporated into processes 700-1000 (FIGS. 7-10 .)Likewise, the sending of business card information and calendarinformation described with respect to FIGS. 6A-6E are may also beincorporated into processes 700-1000 (FIGS. 7-10 .) Further, thedisplaying of a telephone affordances can be implemented across each ofthe user interfaces descried in FIGS. 5A, 5E, and 5F. For brevity, thesedetails are not repeated here.

One common aspect of the above-described techniques is that a deviceneeds to process an incoming message(s) to identify predictive answersfor the message. In some embodiments, this processing entails two steps:first, the device parse an incoming message and assigns a message classto the content of a message; second, the device performs a lookup forcorresponding predictive answers based on the message class, andcomposes an appropriate set of predictive answers based on the contentof the incoming message.

The first step of assigning a message to a message class may beperformed using a rule-based engine. In some embodiments, the rule basedengine may assign a message class based (at least in-part) on theoccurrence of one or more words in the message. As discussed above,examples of such words include “are you” and “or.” In some embodiments,the rule based engine may assign a message class based (at leastin-part) on the occurrence of a punctuation mark used in the message. Asdiscussed above, examples of such punctuations include the use of aquestion mark. In some embodiments, the rule based engine may assign amessage class based (at least in-part) on the use of an honorific in themessage. Examples of such honorifics include the use of suffixes such as“-san” in a message. More generally speaking, in some embodiments, arule based engine that identifies relevant language markers such asauxiliaries and interrogative pronouns may be used to determine messageclasses. In some embodiments, a rule based engine that identifiessyntactic constructs such as verb-predicate inversions may be used.Table 1, below, lists exemplary classes of messages.

TABLE 1 Message Class Example [Comment] GenericStatement The sky isblue. [requires no answer] GenericQuestion Who?/What?/Where? [requiresprecise answer] StatementOrQuestion I'm ready. [may requireacknowledgement] QueryPolar Will you come? QueryPolarDefinite Have youleft yet? QueryPolarRequest Can you drive? QueryAlternative Shall wewalk or drive? QueryEvaluation How was it? QueryReason Why?/How come?QueryLocationSelf Where are you? QueryDistance How close?/How far?QueryCountable How many cups? QueryUncountable How much sugar? QueryTimeWhen?/What time? QueryTimePast When did you arrive? QueryTimeFuture Whenwill you leave? QueryTimeOfDay What time tomorrow? QueryDay What day?QueryMonth What month? QueryYear What year? QueryDuration How long?StatementGreeting Hello, StatementImperative Let's go.StatementAppreciation Thank you.

Once a message class has been identified, the device may lookup possiblepredictive answers for the particular class. Table 2, below, listsexemplary mapping of predictive answers to message classes.

TABLE 2 Message Class Response Set GenericStatement Ok/ThanksGenericQuestion Not sure StatementOrQuestion Ok/Yes/No QueryPolarYes/No/I don't know QueryPolarDefinite Yes/No QueryPolarRequest Surething/Sorry, no QueryAlternative Predicate before or/Predicate after orQueryEvaluation Good/Bad/Ok QueryReason Just because/I don't knowQueryLocationSelf On my way/In my car/At work/At home QueryDistanceClose/Far QueryCountable One/Two/A few/A lot QueryUncountable A little/Alot QueryTime Early/Late QueryTimePast Yesterday/Earlier this week/Awhile ago QueryTimeFuture Tomorrow/Later this week/In the near futureQueryTimeOfDay Morning/Afternoon/Evening QueryDayToday/Tomorrow/Yesterday QueryMonth Thist month/Next month/Last monthQueryYear This year/Next year/Last year QueryDuration 15 mins/30 mins/Anhour StatementGreeting Hi/Hello StatementImperative Ok/Sorry, can'tStatementAppreciation You're welcome/No problem/Ok

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 11 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1100 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the various described embodiments. The functional blocksof the device are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of thevarious described embodiments. It is understood by persons of skill inthe art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 11 are, optionally,combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of thevarious described embodiments. Therefore, the description hereinoptionally supports any possible combination or separation or furtherdefinition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 11 , an electronic device 1100 includes a display unit1102 configured to display various graphical object including messagesand predictive answers information; a touch-sensitive surface unit 1104configured to receive user input; a RF unit 1106 configured tocommunicate with other electronic devices; and a processing unit 1108coupled to the afore-mentioned units. In some embodiments, processingunit 1108 includes a message parsing unit 1110 that reads an incomingmessage to identify, for example, the class of an incoming message.Processing unit 1108 may also include predictive answer determining 1112configured to provide predictive answers based on the results of theparsing unit.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 12 shows an exemplaryfunctional block diagram of an electronic device 1200 configured inaccordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronicdevice 1200 are configured to perform the techniques described above.The functional blocks of the device 1200 are, optionally, implemented byhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carryout the principles of the various described examples. It is understoodby persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described inFIG. 12 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore,the description herein optionally supports any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 12 , an electronic device 1200 includes atouch-sensitive display unit 1202 configured to display a graphic userinterface and to receive contacts, and a processing unit 1204 coupled tothe touch-sensitive display unit 1202. In some embodiments, theprocessing unit 1204 includes display enabling unit 1206, determiningunit 1208, detecting unit 1210, sending unit 1212, display ceasing unit1214, identifying unit 1216, obtaining unit 1218, counting unit 1220,and ranking unit 1222.

The processing unit 1204 is configured to: enable display (e.g., usingdisplay enabling unit 1206) of a message transcript, the messagetranscript including at least one message from at least a first user.The processing unit 1204 is further configured to determine (e.g., usingdetermining unit 1208), based at least in-part on the at least onemessage, a plurality of suggested one or more characters. The processingunit 1204 is further configured to enable display (e.g., using displayenabling unit 1206), on the touch-sensitive display unit 1202, of theplurality of suggested one or more characters. The processing unit 1204is further configured to detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1210) aninput on the touch-sensitive display unit. The processing unit 1204 isfurther configured to determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208)whether the input represents user selection of one of the plurality ofsuggested one or more characters. The processing unit 1204 is furtherconfigured to, in accordance with a determination that the inputrepresents user selection of one of the plurality of suggested one ormore characters, enable display (e.g., using disable enabling unit 1206)of the selected one of the plurality of suggested one or more charactersin the message transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1210) a second input on thetouch-sensitive display unit, the second input representing userselection of a confirmation affordance, and in response to detecting thesecond input, send (e.g., using sending unit 1212) the selected one ormore characters to the first user.

In some embodiments, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit1206) of a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number ofcharacter keys; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1210) keyboard inputrepresenting one or more contacts on the virtual keyboard; and, inresponse to detecting the keyboard input: cease to display (e.g., usingdisplay ceasing unit 1214) the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206)of, in the third region, auto-correct information based on the keyboardinput.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one word used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) a use of the word “or” inthe at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) apreceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; andidentify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) a subsequent word thatappears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display ofthe plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enablingdisplay of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) whether the at least onemessage contains an interrogatory sentence; and, in accordance with adetermination that the at least one message contains an interrogatorysentence, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of atleast “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) the most-frequently-sentmessages to the first user, wherein: enabling display (e.g., usingdisplay enabling unit 1206) of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters comprises enabling display the most-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1216) the most-recently-sentmessages to the first user, and wherein enabling display of (e.g., usingdisplay enabling unit 1206) of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters comprises enabling display of at least one of themost-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) a location of theelectronic device, and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit1206) of an affordance for sending the location as a message to thefirst user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored inthe electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1218) a calendar entry based on themessage received from the first user; and enable display (e.g., usingdisplay enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for sending at least aportion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1208) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the atleast one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1218) a plurality of contact namesstored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit1210) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in theat least one message; obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1218) contactinformation corresponding to the used contact name; and enable display(e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance for sending atleast a portion of the obtained contact information as a message to thesecond user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordancefor calling a phone number associated with the obtained contactinformation.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1220) the number of messages receivedfrom the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enabledisplay (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance forcalling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1220) the number of messages receivedfrom the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enabledisplay (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206) of an affordance forvideo conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1204 is further configured to:rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1222) the suggested one or morecharacters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1206)of the top-ranked characters in the center most position among thedisplayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characterscomprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a thirdword or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one ormore characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word orphrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the pluralityof suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. Insome embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-receivedmessage from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 7 are, optionally,implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 12 . Forexample, displaying operation 702, determining operation 704, anddetecting operation 708 may be implemented by event sorter 170, eventrecognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and eventdispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 comparesthe event information to respective event definitions 186, anddetermines whether a first contact at a first location on thetouch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event,such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When arespective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of theevent or sub-event. Event handler 190 may utilize or call data updater176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192.In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it wouldbe clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how otherprocesses can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS.1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 13 shows an exemplaryfunctional block diagram of an electronic device 1300 configured inaccordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronicdevice 1300 are configured to perform the techniques described above.The functional blocks of the device 1300 are, optionally, implemented byhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carryout the principles of the various described examples. It is understoodby persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described inFIG. 13 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore,the description herein optionally supports any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 13 , an electronic device 1300 includes atouch-sensitive display unit 1302 configured to display objects and toreceive contacts and a processing unit 1304 coupled to thetouch-sensitive display unit 1302. In some embodiments, the processingunit 1304 includes display enabling unit 1306, determining unit 1308,detecting unit 1310, sending unit 1312, display ceasing unit 1314,identifying unit 1316, obtaining unit 1318, counting unit 1320, andranking unit 1322.

The processing unit 1304 is configured to: enable (e.g., using displayenabling unit 1306) display of, in a first region of the display, amessage transcript, the message transcript including at least onemessage from at least a first user; enable (e.g., using display enablingunit 1306) display of, in a second region of the display, a virtualkeyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys; andenable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of, in a thirdregion of the display, a plurality of suggested one or more characters,the plurality of suggested characters determined based, at leastin-part, on a content of the at least one message received from thefirst user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of the thirdregion contiguous with at least one of the first and second regions.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of the thirdregion contiguous with the first region and the second region.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1310) input representing userselection of a suggested one or more characters from the displayedplurality of one or more characters; and in response to detecting theinput, enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of theselected suggested one or more characters into the message transcript inthe first area.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1310) second input representing userselection of a confirmation affordance; and in response to detecting thesecond input, send (e.g., using sending unit 1312) the selectedsuggested one or more characters to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1310) keyboard input representing oneor more contacts on the virtual keyboard; in response to detecting thekeyboard input: cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit 1314)the plurality of suggested one or more characters; and enable (e.g.,using display enabling unit 1306) display of, in the third region,auto-correct information based on the keyboard input.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one word used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) a use of the word “or” inthe at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) apreceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; andidentify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) a subsequent word thatappears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display ofthe plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enablingdisplay of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) whether the at least onemessage contains an interrogatory sentence; and in accordance with adetermination that the at least one message contains an interrogatorysentence, enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of atleast “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) the most-frequently-sentmessages to the first user, wherein: displaying the plurality ofsuggested one or more characters comprises displaying themost-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1316) the most-recently-sentmessages to the first user, and wherein: displaying the plurality ofsuggested one or more characters comprises displaying at least one ofthe most-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) a location of theelectronic device, and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306)display of an affordance for sending the location as a message to thefirst user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored inthe electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using determining unit 1318) a calendar entry based on themessage received from the first user; and enable (e.g., using displayenabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for sending at least aportion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1308) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the atleast one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using determining unit 1318) a plurality of contact namesstored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit1310) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in theat least one message; obtain (e.g., using determining unit 1318) contactinformation corresponding to the used contact name; and enable (e.g.,using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance for sendingat least a portion of the obtained contact information as a message tothe second user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordancefor calling a phone number associated with the obtained contactinformation.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1320) the number of messages receivedfrom the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable(e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance forcalling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1320) the number of messages receivedfrom the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enable(e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) display of an affordance forvideo conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1304 is further configured to:rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1322) the suggested one or morecharacters; and enable (e.g., using display enabling unit 1306) displayof the top-ranked characters in the center most position among thedisplayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characterscomprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a thirdword or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one ormore characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word orphrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the pluralityof suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. Insome embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-receivedmessage from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 8 are, optionally,implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 13 . Forexample, displaying operation 802 and detecting operation 808 may beimplemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, and event handler190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects a contact ontouch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174 deliversthe event information to application 136-1. A respective eventrecognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information torespective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contactat a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to apredefined event or sub event, such as activation of an affordance on auser interface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event isdetected, event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associatedwith the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 mayutilize or call data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update theapplication internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by theapplication. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinaryskill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on thecomponents depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 14 shows an exemplaryfunctional block diagram of an electronic device 1400 configured inaccordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronicdevice 1400 are configured to perform the techniques described above.The functional blocks of the device 1400 are, optionally, implemented byhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carryout the principles of the various described examples. It is understoodby persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described inFIG. 14 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore,the description herein optionally supports any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 14 , an electronic device 1400 includes atouch-sensitive display unit 1402 configured to display objects and toreceive contacts and a processing unit 1404 coupled to thetouch-sensitive display unit 1402. In some embodiments, the processingunit 1404 includes display enabling unit 1406, determining unit 1408,detecting unit 1410, sending unit 1412, display ceasing unit 1414,identifying unit 1416, obtaining unit 1418, counting unit 1420, rankingunit 1422, and display replacing unit 1424.

The processing unit 1404 is configured to: enable display (e.g., usingdisplay enabling unit 1406) of a message transcript, the messagetranscript including at least one message from at least a first user;determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408), based at least in-part onthe at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406)of a first suggested one or more characters of the plurality ofsuggested one or more characters in a first region on thetouch-sensitive display unit, wherein the first region is a contiguousregion visually distinguished from the background of the messagetranscript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing userselection of the first suggested one or more characters; and in responseto detecting the input, send (e.g., using sending unit 1412) thesuggested response to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a text inputarea; detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing acontact on the text input area; and in response to detecting the input,enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a virtualkeyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) keyboard input representing oneor more contacts on the virtual keyboard; and in response to detectingthe keyboard input, cease to display (e.g., using display ceasing unit1414) the first suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of auto-correctinformation based on the keyboard input.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:in response to detecting the input, cease to display the (e.g., usingdisplay ceasing unit 1414) first suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the first region has a dashed outline.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing userselection of the first suggested one or more characters; and in responseto detecting the input, replace (e.g., using display replacing unit1424) the dashed outline of the first region with a solid outline.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of a secondsuggested one or more characters of the plurality of suggested one ormore characters in a second region on the touch-sensitive display unit,wherein the second region is a contiguous region visually distinguishedfrom the background of the message transcript and from the first region;detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1410) input representing userselection of the first suggested one or more characters; and, inresponse to detecting the input, cease to display (e.g., using displayceasing unit 1414) the second region and the second suggested one ormore characters.

In some embodiments, the first region is a message bubble.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one word used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) a use of the word “or” inthe at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) apreceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; andidentify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) a subsequent word thatappears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display ofthe plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enablingdisplay of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) whether the at least onemessage contains an interrogatory sentence; and in accordance with adetermination that the at least one message contains an interrogatorysentence, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of atleast “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) the most-frequently-sentmessages to the first user, wherein: enabling display of the pluralityof suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of themost-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1416) the most-recently-sentmessages to the first user, and wherein: enabling display of theplurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling displayof at least one of the most-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) a location of theelectronic device, and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit1406) of an affordance for sending the location as a message to thefirst user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored inthe electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1418) a calendar entry based on themessage received from the first user; and enable display (e.g., usingdisplay enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for sending at least aportion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1408) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the atleast one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1418) a plurality of contact namesstored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit1410) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in theat least one message; obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1418) contactinformation corresponding to the used contact name; and enable display(e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance for sending atleast a portion of the obtained contact information as a message to thesecond user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordancefor calling a phone number associated with the obtained contactinformation.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1420) the number of messages receivedfrom the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enabledisplay (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance forcalling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1420) the number of messages receivedfrom the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enabledisplay (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406) of an affordance forvideo conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1404 is further configured to:rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1422) the suggested one or morecharacters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1406)of the top-ranked characters in the center most position among thedisplayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characterscomprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a thirdword or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one ormore characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word orphrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the pluralityof suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. Insome embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-receivedmessage from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 9 are, optionally,implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 14 . Forexample, displaying operation 902, determining operation 904, anddetecting operation 908 may be implemented by event sorter 170, eventrecognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and eventdispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 comparesthe event information to respective event definitions 186, anddetermines whether a first contact at a first location on thetouch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event,such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When arespective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of theevent or sub-event. Event handler 190 may utilize or call data updater176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192.In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it wouldbe clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how otherprocesses can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS.1A-1B.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 15 shows an exemplaryfunctional block diagram of an electronic device 1500 configured inaccordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronicdevice 1500 are configured to perform the techniques described above.The functional blocks of the device 1500 are, optionally, implemented byhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carryout the principles of the various described examples. It is understoodby persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described inFIG. 15 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore,the description herein optionally supports any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 15 , an electronic device 1500 includes atouch-sensitive display unit 1502 configured to display a graphic userinterface and to receive contacts, and a processing unit 1504 coupled tothe touch-sensitive display unit 1502. In some embodiments, theprocessing unit 1504 includes a display enabling unit 1506, determiningunit 1508, detecting unit 1510, sending unit 1512, display ceasing unit1514, identifying unit 1516, obtaining unit 1518, counting unit 1520,and ranking unit 1522.

The processing unit 1504 is configured to: enable (e.g., using displayenabling unit 1506) display of a message transcript, the messagetranscript including at least one message from at least a first user;determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508), based at least in-part onthe at least one message, a plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506)of a first affordance representing a first suggested one or morecharacters of the plurality of suggested one or more characters at thebottom of the message transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:detect (e.g., using detecting unit 1510) input representing userselection of the first affordance; and, in response to detecting theinput, send (e.g., using sending unit 1512) the first suggested responseto the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:in response to detecting the input, enable display (e.g., using displayenabling unit 1506) of the first suggested one or more characters in themessage transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:in response to detecting the input, enable display (e.g., using displayenabling unit 1506) of the first suggested one or more characters in afirst region of the message transcript, wherein the first region is acontiguous region visually distinguished from the background of themessage transcript.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:in response to detecting the input, cease to display (e.g., usingdisplay ceasing unit 1514) the first suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of a secondaffordance representing a second suggested one or more characters of theplurality of suggested one or more characters; detect (e.g., usingdetecting unit 1510) input representing user selection of the firstaffordance; and, in response to detecting the input, cease to display(e.g., using display ceasing unit 1514) the second affordance.

In some embodiments, the first region is a message bubble.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one word used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) a use of the word “or” inthe at least one message; identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) apreceding word that appears immediately before the word “or”; andidentify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) a subsequent word thatappears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: enabling display ofthe plurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enablingdisplay of at least the preceding word and the subsequent word.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the at leastone message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) whether the at least onemessage contains an interrogatory sentence; and, in accordance with adetermination that the at least one message contains an interrogatorysentence, enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of atleast “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least the identity of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) the most-frequently-sentmessages to the first user, wherein: enabling display of the pluralityof suggested one or more characters comprises enabling display of themost-frequently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:identify (e.g., using identifying unit 1516) the most-recently-sentmessages to the first user, and wherein: enabling display of theplurality of suggested one or more characters comprises enabling displayof at least one of the most-recently-sent messages.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least a location of the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) a location of theelectronic device, and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit1506) of an affordance for sending the location as a message to thefirst user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least one calendar entry stored inthe electronic device.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1518) a calendar entry based on themessage received from the first user; and enable display (e.g., usingdisplay enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for sending at least aportion of the obtained calendar entry as a message to the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:determine (e.g., using determining unit 1508) the plurality of suggestedone or more characters based on at least an honorific used in the atleast one message.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1518) a plurality of contact namesstored on the electronic device; detect (e.g., using detecting unit1510) the use of a contact name of the plurality of contact names in theat least one message; obtain (e.g., using obtaining unit 1518) contactinformation corresponding to the used contact name; and enable display(e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance for sending atleast a portion of the obtained contact information as a message to thesecond user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordancefor calling a phone number associated with the obtained contactinformation.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1520) the number of messages receivedfrom the first user within a time interval; and in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enabledisplay (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance forcalling the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:count (e.g., using counting unit 1520) the number of messages receivedfr3om the first user within a time interval; and, in accordance with adetermination that the number exceeds a predetermined threshold, enabledisplay (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506) of an affordance forvideo conferencing the first user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1504 is further configured to:rank (e.g., using ranking unit 1522) the suggested one or morecharacters; and enable display (e.g., using display enabling unit 1506)of the top-ranked characters in the center most position among thedisplayed suggested one or more characters.

In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one or more characterscomprises a first word or phrase, a second word or phrase, and a thirdword or phrase. In some embodiments, the plurality of suggested one ormore characters consists of a first word or phrase, a second word orphrase, and a third word or phrase. In some embodiments, the pluralityof suggested one or more characters comprises at least one emoji. Insome embodiments, the at least one message is the most-recently-receivedmessage from the first user.

The operations described above with reference to FIG. 10 are,optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B or FIG. 15. For example, displaying operation 1002, determining operation 1004,and detecting operation 1008 may be implemented by event sorter 170,event recognizer 180, and event handler 190. Event monitor 171 in eventsorter 170 detects a contact on touch-sensitive display 112, and eventdispatcher module 174 delivers the event information to application136-1. A respective event recognizer 180 of application 136-1 comparesthe event information to respective event definitions 186, anddetermines whether a first contact at a first location on thetouch-sensitive surface corresponds to a predefined event or sub event,such as activation of an affordance on a user interface. When arespective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer180 activates an event handler 190 associated with the detection of theevent or sub-event. Event handler 190 may utilize or call data updater176 or object updater 177 to update the application internal state 192.In some embodiments, event handler 190 accesses a respective GUI updater178 to update what is displayed by the application. Similarly, it wouldbe clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art how otherprocesses can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS.1A-1B.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention andvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a display; oneor more processors; a memory; and one or more programs, wherein the oneor more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executedby the one or more processors, the one or more programs includinginstructions for: displaying, via the display, a first user interface,the first user interface concurrently displaying: a message transcript,the message transcript including a first message from at least a secondelectronic device different from the electronic device; and a virtualkeyboard, the virtual keyboard including a number of character keys;while displaying the first user interface, receiving a second messagefrom the second electronic device; in response to receiving the secondmessage from the second electronic device, displaying a plurality ofsuggested one or more characters, the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters is determined based, at least in-part, on a content of thesecond message received from the second electronic device; detecting aset of one or more inputs that includes an input representing userselection of a suggested one or more characters from the displayedplurality of suggested one or more characters; and in response todetecting the set of one or more inputs, displaying the selectedsuggested one or more characters in the message transcript.
 2. Theelectronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs further includinginstructions for: detecting second input representing user selection ofa confirmation affordance; and in response to detecting the secondinput, sending the selected suggested one or more characters to thesecond electronic device.
 3. The electronic device of claim 1, the oneor more programs further including instructions for: while displayingthe first user interface, detecting a keyboard input representing one ormore contacts on a virtual keyboard; and in response to detecting thekeyboard input, replacing the plurality of suggested one or morecharacters with a plurality of auto-correct suggestions based on thekeyboard input.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or moreprograms further including instructions for: determining the pluralityof suggested one or more characters based on at least one word used inthe second message.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or moreprograms further including instructions for: identifying a use of a word“or” in the second message; identifying a preceding word that appearsimmediately before the word “or”; and identifying a subsequent word thatappears immediately after the word “or”, wherein: displaying theplurality of suggested one or more characters comprises displaying atleast the preceding word and the subsequent word.
 6. The electronicdevice of claim 5, wherein the second message includes an interrogatory,the one or more programs further including instructions for: determininga word or phrase that is responsive to the interrogatory, wherein theword or phrase is different from the preceding word and the subsequentword; and displaying the plurality of suggested one or more characterscomprises the word or phrase that is responsive to the interrogatory. 7.The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programs furtherincluding instructions for: determining the plurality of suggested oneor more characters based on a punctuation mark used in the secondmessage.
 8. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programsfurther including instructions for: determining whether the secondmessage contains an interrogatory sentence; and in accordance with adetermination that the second message contains an interrogatorysentence, displaying at least “yes” and “no” as part of the plurality ofsuggested one or more characters.
 9. The electronic device of claim 1,the one or more programs further including instructions for: determiningthe plurality of suggested one or more characters based on at least alocation of the second electronic device.
 10. The electronic device ofclaim 1, the one or more programs further including instructions for:determining a location of the electronic device, and displaying anaffordance for sending the location as a message to the secondelectronic device.
 11. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or moreprograms further including instructions for: determining the pluralityof suggested one or more characters based on at least one calendar entrystored in the electronic device.
 12. The electronic device of claim 1,the one or more programs further including instructions for: obtaining acalendar entry based on the message received from the second electronicdevice; and displaying an affordance for sending at least a portion ofthe obtained calendar entry as a message to the second electronicdevice.
 13. The electronic device of claim 1, the one or more programsfurther including instructions for: determining the plurality ofsuggested one or more characters based on at least an honorific used inthe second message.
 14. The electronic device of claim 1, the one ormore programs further including instructions for: obtaining a pluralityof contact names stored on the electronic device; detecting the use of acontact name of the plurality of contact names in the second message;obtaining contact information corresponding to the used contact name;and displaying an affordance for sending at least a portion of theobtained contact information as a message to a second user.
 15. A methodcomprising: at an electronic device with a display: displaying, via thedisplay, a first user interface, the first user interface concurrentlydisplaying: a message transcript, the message transcript including afirst message from at least a second electronic device different fromthe electronic device; and a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboardincluding a number of character keys; while displaying the first userinterface, receiving a second message from the second electronic device;in response to receiving the second message from the second electronicdevice, displaying a plurality of suggested one or more characters, theplurality of suggested one or more characters is determined based, atleast in-part, on a content of the second message received from thesecond electronic device; detecting a set of one or more inputs thatincludes an input representing user selection of a suggested one or morecharacters from the displayed plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; and in response to detecting the set of one or more inputs,displaying the selected suggested one or more characters in the messagetranscript.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring one or more programs configured to be executed by one or moreprocessors of an electronic device with a display, the one or moreprograms including instructions for: displaying, via the display, afirst user interface, the first user interface concurrently displaying:a message transcript, the message transcript including a first messagefrom at least a second electronic device different from the electronicdevice; and a virtual keyboard, the virtual keyboard including a numberof character keys; while displaying the first user interface, receivinga second message from the second electronic device; in response toreceiving the second message from the second electronic device,displaying a plurality of suggested one or more characters, theplurality of suggested one or more characters is determined based, atleast in-part, on a content of the second message received from thesecond electronic device; detecting a set of one or more inputs thatincludes an input representing user selection of a suggested one or morecharacters from the displayed plurality of suggested one or morecharacters; and in response to detecting the set of one or more inputs,displaying the selected suggested one or more characters in the messagetranscript.